Oil Spill Clean-Up
Cleaning up oil spills uses essential elements of the engineering design process.Copyright 2010 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Public Domain
Students are introduced to oil spills and what exactly happens when oil is spilled onto the ocean’s surface. Students are shown real images of major oil spills as a phenomenon. The class discusses the effects of oil spills have on oceans and marine life, including plant and animal populations such as birds, otters, and ducks. They take on the role of an environmental engineering company and are tasked to clean up a major oil spill disaster. Students use a variety of materials that absorb oil. Certain constraints will be put upon the students to mimic an engineering atmosphere.
Environmental engineers develop solutions to combat pollution; oil spills are an extreme type of pollution in bodies of water, particularly oceans. Environmental engineers help clean up oil spills and improve a polluted environment so that it is once again able to provide food, water, space, and essential nutrients for its population of plants and animals.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Test a variety of materials to determine which absorbs and removes the most oil.
- Use a ruler to measure how much oil has been collected.
- Create a class double bar graph to document and display data.
- Present their knowledge and findings to the class.